Mid Year Review

There were lots of thoughts ticking away in my head after last week's re-emergence. We did roll into the second half of the year this week, so I thought it would be fitting to look back to the start of the year, and see how things have progressed, and how things have changed.

So when I started out the year, the idea of these posts was to provide insight into sports business, and the business of athletes, and where there are opportunities to be taken advantage of. I have to confess, I have been feeling a little lost around it. So last time I asked for some thoughts on what would be interesting to read about. And again, I am always open to hearing what people want to hear about.

When the year kicked off, I also announced some very ambitious goals on social media, and now feels like a time to bring some [brutal] accountability to that, and a reset of where things are at.

Goal: Get more netballers on Super Netball Squads

Progress: That's Confidential

Comment: Confidential - but I am optimistic. We are in the middle of signing period.

Goal: Support athletes to win World Championships medals

Progress: We will see

Comment: It's a little bit out of my control, but world championships are coming up for a number of athletes!

Goal: Run 25 athlete speaking engagements across the year

Progress: Well, I am a bit behind on this. We are at 8, but there has been some good groundwork laid!

Comment: This was always ambitious, but I am confident that the winds are turning and we are going to get some progress.

Goal: Organise 50 content / brand deals for athletes

Progress: I'm also behind on this - the current number is 9, but that puts me very much behind pace on this.

Comment: As above

Goal: Create 200 pieces of content about athletes and business

Progress: I'm behind on this - currently tracking for about 100

Comment: This is one I am less concerned about. Its more important that my athletes are experiencing success than I am churning out content. Better to align with purpose and achieve those goals than hit an arbitrary target that's less relevant.

Goal: Run a 95 minute half marathon

Progress: My Garmin currently predicts that I could run a 98 minute half marathon.

Comment: That would be a big PB, but I am not sure I will actually test it, as timing is not brilliant for such a test.

Goal: Improve my Canva skills so my graphics look better

Progress: Definitely getting somewhere with this one!

Comment: I am pretty happy with how the graphics have improved recently.

So what that tells me is that after half of the year, the ambitious goals I set have not really aligned with where the focus has been.

But I have done a heap of strategic work with athletes around positioning themselves for opportunities, and have done some work bringing in wise external counsel (financial planners, lawyers) to help athletes ensure that they have the right support around them.

And where does that leave me as we stare down the back half of the year?

With two key thoughts:

1. Ultimately, the simple philosophy of professional services applies - the focus is clients' needs. Not what I want, not what I publicly declared was a goal, but what they need.

2. I probably need to recalibrate how fast I can run a half marathon - I am nowhere near that.

But in all seriousness, this represents a reset for me - not shying away from goals, but focussing on what actually matters to my clients, and not to me. No vanity metrics, just client outcomes.

See you next time!

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